DUTCH DW 2025 EVENT

The 2025 Dutch Downwind Event is a community focused event with the goal of bringing together the downwinding community and enjoying good bumps together.

15 November Meet-up Wijdenes

We didn't get the desired South West winds to run the event in Almere along the dijk. But when a good Easterly showed up on the forecast during the event window (bit unusual for this time of the year) , we pivoted and decided to run a more fun format of "free for all laps" focusing on the "Stage 2" of the original format and making it more community focused. This format turned out to be much more inclusive than the original plan since the short 4-5km run meant the spread between the fastest and the slowest wasn't too big, making it easy to shuttle with shorter waiting time. Additionally there was the option for foilers to stop at 2km meaning that even the less experienced downwind foilers could take part and everyone got 2-3 runs in! It was great to have participants enjoying downwind foiling with the paddle, parawing, Foildrive and even a couple of wingers.

 

The focus of the event was community and sharing bumps. We used the leaderboard to track stats with prizes being given out for:

Most extra distance, fastest km, fastest lap, most progression, youngest hip, flow, most set ups used over the day (two fully different boards / set ups and parawing + wing), FoilDrive division prizes, and a couple more. 

 

It was awesome to see how many foilers turned up, with almost 20 foilers turn up from all over The Netherlands as well as Belgium!

Some of the foilers documented their own experiences such as Junior with this video

Original Plan

The event is going to take place on the Markermeer - along the Oostvaardsedijk. This should give super fun and accessibly bumps to a wider range of levels. 

The event is made up of two parts as we want the event to cover the various facets of downwinding (racing, surfing, cruising):

Event Schedule

The event will run off fixed start times for each leg

Part 1: Time TBC depending on wind conditions

Part 2: Will start 1hour after the start time of Run 1

Part 3: Borrel at Club Portside in Lelystad Haven

 

Logistics

We will be self shuttling along the course. Timings will be sent out prior to the event for meeting, briefing etc to ensure that we will have time for shuttles

Safety

For safety reasons we will have to run with a minimum level to take part in the full event (Part 1 and Part 2).

For those who do not feel that they can complete Part 1 in the event time frame (1hr), they can opt to start with the Part 2 start.

The time window for Part 1 can be increased in discussion with the fleet and event organizer. 

For those who do not meet the minimum criteria, there is an option to register and start when you wish (earliest start - Part 1 start time). Just sign up so that we have numbers and tick that you do not meet the minimum requirement.

Note: a minimum level is needed to keep to these timings and keep riders as close together as possible.